Production of knitted fabrics



June 18, 1940. K. M. UPHILL ET AL PRODUCTION OF KNITTED FABRICS Filed 001;. l, 1938 K-MUPHILL A F GUYLER INVENTORS f ATToRMYS Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRODUCTION OF KNITTED FABRICS poration of Delaware Application October 1,

1938, Serial No. 232,748

In Great Britain October 21, 1937 2 Claims.

This invention relates to the production of knitted fabrics, and particularly to the production of knitted tuck-stitch fabrics.

According to the present invention, tuck-stitch fabric is knitted on a series of bearded needles by a cycle of operations comprising raising needles, drawing loops of thread round the raised needles, drawing down selected needles and pressing the beards thereof so that said selected needles knit the loops of thread drawn round them, drawing down the remaining needles without pressing their beards so that said needles do not knit the loops of thread drawn round them but tuck, and subsequently repeating the above operations with the selected needles and the remaining needles interchanged.

The invention may conveniently be carried out on a circular bearded-needle knitting machine by the provision on the individual needles of actuating butts of diilierent lengths, and by the provision of cams suitably designed so as to actuate the butts of different lengths in difierent man ners. Thus, in the cycle of operations above described, the initial raising of the needles may be effected, where the selected needles are needles having short butts, by means of a shallow cam that raises the long butt needles only, the short butts of the remaining needles passing over the face of the cam to be raised to a lower height by a further cam of full depth. The short butts of the selected needles may then be drawn down to knit by means of a further cam of full depth adapted to actuate the short butts, the long butt needles having been raised to such a height that they pass over the said cam. At the subsequent stage when the selection is reversed, and the long butt needles are the selected needles, all the needles may be raised, and then by the provision of a shallow cam the long butt needles only may be brought down to knit the loops drawn round them, while the short butts pass over the face of the shallow cam and are not drawn down until a later stage.

The invention provides a simple and inexpensive method of producing tuck-stitch fabrics on circular bearded-needle knitting machines, without the provision of elaborate needle-selecting means, and without the necessity of complicated means such as cut presser cams and presser jacks of varying form, for closing selectively the beards of the selected or unselected needles. The invention may, however, be used in conjunction with such more elaborate means, and greatly increases the range of effects capable of being produced thereby. The reversal of the selection may take place at every other feed, so that the long butt needles and the short butt needles are selected at alternate feeds, or alternatively, the long butt needles or the short butt needles may be the selected needles for two or more feeds and then the short butt or long butt needles respectively may be the selected needles for the same or a different number of feeds. Further, between feeds at which selection takes place, there may be included one or more plain feeds at which all needles knit.

The method and apparatus according to the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing of which Fig. 1 is a, diagrammatic development of a needle and cam system according to the present invention, and

Figs. 2-5 are four diagrammatic representations or different ways in which a cam system of the kind shown in Fig. 1 may be employed in a circular knitting machine.

The machine for carrying out the invention is a circular bearded-needle machine provided with a series of needles i, 2 and sinkers 3 for forming loops of thread round the needles. The needles are provided some (the needles I) with short butts 4, shown by a short thick line, and some (the needles 2) with long butts 5, shown by a hollow rectangle, adapted to be engaged by cams 6-[3 for the actuation of the needles. The needles are arranged in groups of three, 1. e. three successive needles 2 having longbutts and three successive: needles I having short butts, and so on.

The machine is a multi-feeder machine having several sets of knitting cams round the circle of the machine for actuating the needles, and the said knitting cams comprise cams l, 8, 9, ll, I3, of full depth adapted to actuate either long or short butts coming into engagement with them, and shallower cams 6, l0, l2 adapted to actuate only long butts 5, the short butts 4 passing over the faces of said shallow cams 6, l0, I2 without being affected thereby.

The cam assemblies shown in Fig. l are of two different types, one comprising the cams 6-H], and the other the cams I l| 3.

In the operation of the machine, at one feeder a shallow cam 6 is provided which raises only the long butt needles 2. Following the shallow cam 6 a further cam l is provided, the upper edge of which is below the level to which the long butts 5 have been raised. This cam I raises the short butt needles I to a level lower than that to which the long butt needles 2 have been raised. Thread 14 is then fed to all the needles 1 and 2, and the sinkers 3 of the machine form loops of thread 15 round the needles 1, 2. Further cams 8 and 9 wholly below the level of the long butts 5 then act to draw down the short butt needles 1, the beards of these needles being pressed by means of a presser cam indicated at 18 as they are drawn down, so that the needles I draw the loops 15 of thread round them through the old loops of the fabric, and so knit new loops. When the needles have passed the pressing means, the long butt needles 2 are drawn down by a further cam 10 and, the presser cam It being passed, the beards of the long butt needles 2 are not pressed, and accordingly they do not knit their loops 15, but only tuck.

At the next feeder all the needles 1 and 2 are raised by means of a cam 11 acting on all the butts 4, 5, thread 1'1 is fed to all the needles 1 and 2 and loops 18 thereof are formed round the needles by means of the sinkers 3. A shallow cam i2 then acts to draw down the long butt needles 2 only, and the beards of the long butt needles 2 are pressed by means of a presser cam indicated at is as the needles descend; so that the loops !8 of thread round these needles are drawn through old loops in the fabric and formed into new loops. When this has been done, the short butt needles I are drawn down by cam i3 and are not pressed, so that they only tuck. The knitting cams at the third feeder are the same as the cams 610 of the first feeder, and the cams at the fourth feeder the same as the cams ii-IS at the second feeder, and so on so that at alternate feeders the long butt needles 2 and the short butt needles I are alternately selected to tuck their loops while the remaining needles knit.

The two types of cam assembly shown in Fig. 1 may alternate at the several feeders of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2, which is a cam diagram of an eight feeder machine in which an assembly such as the one comprising cams 6-40, adapted to select the short butt needles, is indicated by the letter S, while an assembly of the cams 11-13, adapted to select the long butt needles is indicated by the letter L. Thus, the needles are actuated first with the short butt needles as the selected needles, and at the next feeder with the long butt needles as the selected needles, and so on.

Alternative arrangements are shown in the cam diagrams of Figs. 3-5. In Fig. 3, the assemblies are in pairs, two of kind S alternately with two of the kind L. In Fig. 1, the numbers of the two kinds are different, groups of three assemblies of type L, alternately with single assemblies of the type S. In Fig. 5, an assembly for plain knitting, adapted to actuate all the needles at once, e. g. by two single cams such as 11 and 9, is indicated by the letter P, and occurs at every fourth feed, assemblies of the kind S being provided at alternate feeds, and assemblies of the kind L at the remaining feeds.

Having described our invention what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A circular bearded needle knitting machine for the production Of tuck stitch fabric, said machine comprising a circular series of bearded needles, short actuating butts on some of said needles, and long actuating butts on the remainder of said needles and a plurality of sets of knitting cams of two types, one type comprising in succession a shallow cam adapted to raise the long butt needles, a deep cam adapted to raise the short butt needles to a less height than said long butt needles, a deep cam adapted to draw down said short butt needles and a prcsser cam adapted to press the beards of said short butt needles as they are drawn down, and a cam adapted to lower the long butt needles, and the other type comprising in succession a deep cam adapted to raise all the needles, a shallow cam adapted to draw down the long butt needles only and a presser cam adapted to press the beards of said long butt needles as they are drawn down,

and a deep cam adapted to draw down the short butt needles.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which sets of cams of the two types alternate in the machine.

KENNETH MERSON UPHILL. ALBERT FAIRHOLME GUYLER. 

